The bankers’ associations from 39 states in the United States have jointly formed the BankChain alliance, planning to build an industry-owned blockchain network for tokenized deposits, stablecoins, smart payments, and automated settlements, with the goal of launching in 2027. The alliance is currently still selecting technical partners and has not yet become an operational payment network.

The BankChain alliance states that the 39 member associations represent 3,283 banks, with total assets of $21.8 trillion. The board of the alliance is chaired by Kathy Kraninger, president and CEO of the Florida Bankers Association. Howard Headlee, president of the Utah Bankers Association, stated that governance is a differentiated advantage, and BankChain aims to allow member banks to “equally access a network owned by them and have their voices heard.”

The area that BankChain is entering has a bank tokenization deposit project led by The Clearing House, which was announced in June and aims to facilitate on-chain clearing and settlement of tokenized commercial bank money, connecting the RTP and CHIPS payment networks. In contrast, BankChain’s product range is broader, covering stablecoins and automated settlements, but it is still in the early stages and needs to first identify technology suppliers and convert association-level support into commitments from member banks.